birdog1960

i'll do that. they weren't on my list but look pretty strange...strange is often good.

bristol rhythm and roots festival is just around the corner (sept17-19)brrr schedule. it's on the bristol tn/va border and within 3.5 hours of charlotte, knoxville, asheville, winston salem, raleigh and roanoke. $40 for a weekend pass for over 100 bands. always some surprising up and coming acts as well as old reliables. friendly, upbeat vibe. if you don't feel you've assimilated into the south, this would be a good start. for friday night, i recommend blue mother tupelo, grit pixies., new familiars, folk soul revival and del mccroury but everyone is bound to see an act they love. there's a bar within the festival with direct ticket (and many bars without it) so you can watch the bills sunday (without sound, as there's bands at every bar, coffee shop, theater and 4 stages). wear some bills stuff and show your roots!

ah, the infamous "looking down the wrong side of the street" quote. wilson should really let someone else come up with his metaphors. but he certainly is a "wily old coot" as described in the toronto paper. i think the big name coach/gm brooha was just more evidence of that.

interesting post. just wondering, do you see mortgage rates going even lower based on these hypotheses? seems very likely to me (double dip or not) but how low can they go? also if the dollar devalues, commodities priced in dollars might seem a good bet especially if demand increase disproportionately in China, India etc,yes? your post suggests significant convergence and agreement from prominent money men but in the last year my perception has been anything but that. do you feel this has recently changed then?

that "something" will most likely be a pandemic...you might be well served by your dry goods but tamiflu will probably be most useful..the tinfoil hats- not so much.

where would yall take him in a fantasy draft? i was thinking 6th or 7th round but he may be long gone by then after last night.

it was very encouraging....special teams also a bit weak surprisingly, but all in all a very good showing. too bad it was wasted on toronto "fans".

no one pushes me to prescribe rather than refer. i often don't refer if i feel invasive evaluation/intervention is likely to do more harm than good or even result in further uncertainty. tests are often refused by private insurers but less frequently by medicare and i've never had a referral questioned unless out of network (again primarily by private insurers). dtc advertising should be banned tomorrow (the us is the only nation that i'm aware of that allows it). have you seen any administration address this? the current admin is not an outlier in this regard and this is one of many disappointments to progressives. single payer is not a panacea. health reform is a work in progress. have you read daschle's book? a board of medical experts without industry ties could define best practices and reasonable care similar to that used in the UK. industry stipends to faculty at influential academic institutions could be banned or limited (harvard recently took small steps in this direction). the FDA could be restructured, idealistic? radical? against the grain? no doubt. but what we have is failing and unsustainable. the status quo is not a long term option.

agree with all points but #5 is political suicide (pardon the pun). no one has the gonads for that. and while viagra is meant to evoke images of niagara, it is spelled uniquely.

several encouraging issue for primary care in reform: establishment of medical home with reimbursement for oversight services. increased pay for primary care visits (slowly phased in and paid for by reductions in reimbursements for procedures and technology-btw, "the market" had little to do with the massive discrepancies between cognitive reimbursement and procedural) and finally medicaid payment on par with medicare (important for those who currently see medicaid patients). in general, the reform bill at least pays lip service to the value of primary care. the model cannot work without its robust presence.edit: lastly 13 million new patients though most of us can't handle any more.

mea culpa..so sue me...i must have remembered 160K pounds (why do you have a pound symbol on your keyboard?) after conversion with exchange rate. as far as me being at the bottom, just not true, especially regarding the things that i hold as most meaningful. when you frame the discussion in purely monetary terms, everything changes. i choose not to frame it that way. regarding flaws in the reform bill, there are many. my belief is that this is just the first act. time will tell.

last time i looked, a gp in england averaged 160k pounds. in the us, about $180k. even at current exchange rates the brits do better.

these are not the same old solutions. what is being proposed in the long run is a complete overhaul of the system. since it is so radical it can't occur in 1 or 2 steps. it will have to be incremental and insidious (except in 2014 when major change will occur). the entirety of the current piece work method of reimbursement needs scrapping and rebuilding as does the ratio of specialists to primary care. there are examples of success using these methods ie: better outcomes at lower cost. i won't lower myself to name call. and before you question my vocabulary again or misinterpret: insidious is meant to mean:"developing gradually as to be well established before becoming apparent" in this instance.

no, you try again. how do you approach this looming shortage or do you not see a problem?

i'm all for educational subsidies to incentivize going into primary care. it won't be enough however. get ready to see midlevel providers when you complain of chest pain.

almost invariably?

i see a combined total of 85% medicare + medicaid. avg. pt load per week = 110. and yeah, it doesn't surprise me that an anesthesiologist won't be happy with the changes a comin. their will be winners and losers with reform and specialty and subspecialty providers won't be celebrating victory. primary care docs in the single payer british system actually make more than their us counterparts (on average). Hence the looming critical shortage of primary care docs in the us. i'm satisfied with what i earn now so any more would be a bonus. btw, i haven't sherked my "administrative responsibilities. i'm one of those dinosaur docs that actually hung a shingle and own my own business. but this is more about universal, equitable access to care than it is business. the best route there is single payer

ever considered that to some, it's not just about maximizing profit...thought not.

'"characterized by vision or foresight"...if you choose an alternative definition, so be it but that's what was meant and i believe conveyed despite your feigned ignorance.

fixed it for you

Is it overspending if that's what it takes to be competitive, much less championship caliber? i think you've proven the op's original point: building through the draft is first and foremost a money saving strategy.

i agree with you. btw, cleveland was able to sign some fairly big name FA's (and a coach) with money alone (i don't think they were clamoring to live near lake erie). watching the jets last night and all of their acquisitions contrasted greatly with the bills...we'll see how that translates in the standings but the odds are with the jets. why can't you do both simultaneously? building through the draft and free agency doesn't have to be mutually exclusive.

i suppose everything is relative. compared to that den of vipers Jack Abramoff looks good.

um...yeah those labors would include mine since i'm a physician. it might surprise many of you how many docs support single payer. in some specialties it's a majority. and, yeah, the deal with big pharma sucks. it appears it was a condition to get reform started...the slippery slope has only recently been erected.

watching the PGA (what an outrageous golf course!) yesterday, i had the misfortune to watch multiple showings of united health care's ad extolling their contributions to their "patients" (insured lives). a huge point was made of the fact that they have 78,000 employees "caring for" 70 million americans. all i could think of was "what a waste of 78,000 people's talents". united health care does precious little to advance the health of americans. they produce nothing in the way of actual care, medical technology, knowledge or improved outcomes. they are entirely superfluous and unnecessary. there disappearance would do nothing but improve the heath care system in the US. they are in the business of making money from patients and refusing care is one of their most proftable enterprises. very often, their actions are injurious to their customers. yet, many americans would appear to prefer profit as the motive for health care dispersal and prefer businessmen deciding their medical fate over government agencies overseen by elected officials. i suspect the ad was tested on multiple focus groups with great success. i can only hope the research was flawed.... fire away.